Mongolian script

• Traditional: n, q/k, γ/g, b, p, s, š, t, d, l, m, č...[11][12]^: 7
• Modern: n, b, p, q/k, γ/g, m, l, s, š, t, d, č...[11][12]^: 7
• Other modern orderings that apply to specific dictionaries also exist.[13]

Mongolian vowel harmony separates the vowels of words into three groups – two mutually exclusive and one neutral:

• The back, male, masculine,[14] hard, or yang[15] vowels a, o, and u.
• The front, female, feminine,[14] soft, or yin[15] vowels e, ö, and ü.
• The neutral vowel i, able to appear in all words.

Any Mongolian word can contain the neutral vowel i, but only vowels from either of the other two groups. The vowel qualities of visually separated vowels and suffixes must likewise harmonize with those of the preceding word stem. Such suffixes are written with front or neutral vowels when preceded by a word stem containing only neutral vowels. Any of these rules might not apply for foreign words however.[3]^{: 11, 35, 39}[16]^: 10[17]^: 4[13]

Two examples of the two kinds of letter separation: with the suffix ‑un ( ) and the final vowel ‑a ( )

A separated final form of vowels a or e is common, and can appear at the end of a word stem, or suffix. This form requires a final-shaped preceding letter, and an inter-word gap in between. This gap can be transliterated with a hyphen.[note 1][3]^: 30, 77[18]^: 42[1]^: 38–39[17]^: 27[19]^{: 534–535}

The presence or lack of a separated a or e can also indicate differences in meaning between different words (compare ᠬᠠᠷ᠎ᠠ^⟨?⟩ qar‑a 'black' with ᠬᠠᠷᠠ qara 'to look').[20]^: 3[19]^: 535

Its form could be confused with that of the identically shaped traditional dative-locative suffix ‑a/‑e exemplified further down. That form however, is more commonly found in older texts, and more commonly takes the forms of ⟨ᠲ᠋ᠤᠷ⟩ tur/tür or ⟨ᠳ᠋ᠤᠷ⟩ dur/dür instead.[16]^: 15[21][1]^: 46

1925 logo of Buryat–Mongolian newspaper ᠪᠤᠷᠢᠶᠠᠳ ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠤᠨ ᠦᠨᠡᠨ᠃ Buriyad Mongγol‑un ünen 'Buryat-Mongol truth' with the suffix  ᠤᠨ^⟨?⟩ ‑un.

All case suffixes, as well as any plural suffixes consisting of one or two syllables, are likewise separated by a preceding and hyphen-transliterated gap.[note 2] A maximum of two case suffixes can be added to a stem.[3]^: 30, 73[16]^: 12[21][22][17]^: 28[19]^: 534

Such single-letter vowel suffixes appear with the final-shaped forms of a/e, i, or u/ü,[3]^: 30 as in ᠭᠠᠵᠠᠷ ᠠ^⟨?⟩ γaǰar‑a 'to the country' and ᠡᠳᠦᠷ ᠡ^⟨?⟩ edür‑e 'on the day',[3]^: 39 or ᠤᠯᠤᠰ ᠢ^⟨?⟩ ulus‑i 'the state' etc.[3]^: 23 Multi-letter suffixes most often start with an initial- (consonants), medial- (vowels), or variant-shaped form. Medial-shaped u in the two-letter suffix  ᠤᠨ^⟨?⟩ ‑un/‑ün is exemplified in the adjacent newspaper logo.[3]^: 30[19]^: 27

In the modern language, proper names (but not words) usually forms graphic compounds (such as those of ᠬᠠᠰᠡᠷᠳᠡᠨᠢ Qas'erdeni 'Jasper-jewel' or ᠬᠥᠬᠡᠬᠣᠲᠠ Kökeqota – the city of Hohhot). These also allow components of different harmonic classes to be joined together, and where the vowels of an added suffix will harmonize with those of the latter part of the compound. Orthographic peculiarities are most often retained, as with the short and long teeth of an initial-shaped ö in ᠮᠤᠤ‍‍ᠥ᠌‍‍ᠬᠢᠨ Muu'ökin 'Bad Girl' (protective name). Medial t and d, in contrast, are not affected in this way.[3]^: 30[23]^: 92[1]^: 44[24]^: 88

Isolate citation forms for syllables containing o, u, ö, and ü may in dictionaries appear without a final tail as in ⟨ᠪᠣ⟩ bo/bu or ⟨ᠮᠣ᠋⟩ mo/mu, and with a vertical tail as in ⟨ᠪᠥ᠋⟩ bö/bü or ⟨ᠮᠥ᠋⟩ mö/mü (as well as in transcriptions of Chinese syllables).[13][1]^: 39

A dash indicates a non-applicable position for that letter.

Parentheses enclose glyphs or positions whose corresponding sounds are not found in native Mongolian words.

Palatalized phonemes have been excluded. These are conditioned by a following i.[18]^: 178

Letter[3]: 17, 18 [2]: 546
‑a	a	Transliteration[note 3]
—	ᠠ[lower-alpha 6]	Alone
	ᠠ᠋[lower-alpha 7]
	[lower-alpha 8]
	ᠠ‍	Initial
	‍ᠠ‍	Medial
	‍ᠠ	Connected final
᠎ᠠ⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩	—	Separated final

Separated suffixes[note 4]
‑a	Transliteration
ᠠ‍⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩	Initial
ᠠ⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩	Whole

• Transcribes Chakhar /ɑ/;[13][27] Khalkha /a/, /ə/, and /∅/.[18]^: 40–42 Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter а.[28][25]
• Medial and final forms may be distinguished from those of other tooth-shaped letters through: vowel harmony (e), the shape of adjacent consonants (see q/k and γ/g below), and position in syllable sequence (n, ng, q, γ, d).[21]
• The final tail extends to the left after bow-shaped consonants (such as b, and p), and to the right in all other cases.
• ‍ᠠ᠋‍ = medial form used after the junction in a proper name compound.[1]^: 44
• ‍ᠠ᠋^⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩ = connected galik final.[3]^: 26–28[1]^: 38–39
• Derived from Old Uyghur aleph (𐽰), written twice for isolate and initial forms.[2]^{: 539–540, 545–546}[29]^{: 111, 113}[1]^: 35
• Produced with A using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

Letter[3]: 17, 18–19 [2]: 546
‑e	e	Transliteration
—	ᠡ[lower-alpha 7]	Alone
	[lower-alpha 8]
	ᠡ‍	Initial
	‍ᠡ‍	Medial
	‍ᠡ	Connected final
᠎ᠡ⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩	—	Separated final

Separated suffixes[note 5]
‑e	Transliteration
ᠡ‍	Initial
ᠡ⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩	Whole

• Transcribes Chakhar /ə/;[13][27] Khalkha /i/, /e/, /ə/, and /∅/.[18]^: 40–42 Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter э.[28][25]
• Medial and final forms may be distinguished from those of other tooth-shaped letters through: vowel harmony (a) and its effect on the shape of a word's consonants (see q/k and γ/g below), or position in syllable sequence (n, ng, d).[21]
• The final tail extends to the left after bow-shaped consonants (such as b, p, k, and g), and to the right in all other cases.
• ᠡ᠋‍ = a traditional initial form.[31]^: 6
• Derived from Old Uyghur aleph.[2]^{: 539–540, 545–546}[29]^{: 111, 113}[1]^: 35
• Produced with E using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

Letter[3]: 17, 19 [2]: 546
i	Transliteration
ᠢ	Alone
ᠢ‍	Initial
‍ᠢ‍	Medial (syllable-initial)
[lower-alpha 11]	Medial (syllable-final)
‍ᠢ	Final

Separated suffixes[note 6]
‑i	Transliteration
ᠢ‍⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩	Initial
ᠢ⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩	Whole

• Transcribes Chakhar /i/ or /ɪ/;[13][27] Khalkha /i/, /ə/, and /∅/.[18]^: 40–42 Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter и.[28][25]
• Today, often absorbed into a preceding syllable when at the end of a word.
• Written medially with the single long tooth after a consonant, and with two after a vowel (with rare exceptions like ᠨᠠ‍ᠢ‍ᠮᠠ naima 'eight' or ᠨᠠ‍ᠢ‍ᠮᠠᠨ naiman 'eight'/tribal name).[3]^: 31[16]^: 9, 39[1]^: 38
• ‍ᠢ᠋‍ = a handwritten Inner Mongolian variant on the sequence yi (as in ᠰᠠᠶ᠋ᠢᠨ / ᠰᠠᠶᠢᠨ sayin 'good' being written ᠰᠠᠢ᠋ᠨ sain).[16]^: 58[1]^: 38[32]^: 346
  • Also the medial form used after the junction in a proper name compound.[1]^: 44
• Derived from Old Uyghur yodh (𐽶), preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[2]^{: 539–540, 545–546}[29]^{: 111, 113}[1]^: 35
• Produced with I using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

• Transcribes Chakhar /ɔ/;[13][27] Khalkha /ɔ/, /ə/, and /∅/.[18]^: 40–42 Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter о.[28][25]
• Indistinguishable from u, except when inferred by its placement: it is only found in medial or final syllables if the initial syllable also carries it, or rarely when it carries the vowel i.[3]^: 11, 19[16]^: 9–10
• ‍ᠣ᠋ = the final form used in loanwords, as in ᠷᠠᠳᠢᠣ᠋ radio (радио radio).[28]^: 48[1]^: 36[33]
• ‍ᠣ᠋‍ = medial form used after the junction in a proper name compound.[1]^: 44
• Derived from Old Uyghur waw (𐽳), preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[2]^{: 539–540, 545–546}[29]^{: 111, 113}[1]^: 35
• Produced with W using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

Separated suffixes[note 7]
‑u	‑u	‑un	‑ud	‑uruγu	Transliteration
	ᠤ⟨?⟩	—	—	—	Whole
	—	ᠤᠨ⟨?⟩	ᠤᠳ⟨?⟩
		—	—	ᠤᠷᠤᠭᠤ⟨?⟩

• Transcribes Chakhar /ʊ/;[13][27] Khalkha /ʊ/, /ə/, and /∅/.[18]^: 40–42 Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter у.[28][25]
• Indistinguishable from o.[3]^: 19[16]^: 9–10
• ‍ᠤ᠋‍ = medial form used after the junction in a proper name compound.[1]^: 44
• Derived from Old Uyghur waw, preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[2]^{: 539–540, 545–546}[29]^{: 111, 113}[1]^: 35
• Produced with V using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

• Transcribes Chakhar /o/;[13][27] Khalkha /o/[ɵ], /ə/, and /∅/.[18]^: 40–42 Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter ө.[28][25]
• Indistinguishable from ü, except when inferred by its placement: it is only found in medial or final syllables if the initial syllable also carries it.[3]^: 11, 20[16]^: 9–10
• ‍ᠥ᠋ = an alternative final form; also used in loanwords.[1]^: 39
• The syllable-initial medial form ‍ᠥ᠋‍ is also used in non-initial syllables in proper name compounds,[1]^: 44 as well as in loanwords.
• ‍ᠥ᠌‍ = medial form used after the junction in a proper name compound.[1]^: 44
• Derived from Old Uyghur waw, followed by a yodh in word-initial syllables, and preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[2]^{: 539–540, 545–546}[29]^{: 111, 113}[1]^: 35
• Produced with O using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

Separated suffixes[note 8]
‑ü	‑ü	‑ün	‑ügei	‑üd	Transliteration
	ᠦ⟨?⟩	—	—	—	Whole
	—	ᠦᠨ⟨?⟩		ᠦᠳ⟨?⟩
		—	ᠦᠭᠡᠢ⟨?⟩	—

• Transcribes Chakhar /u/;[13][27] Khalkha /u/, /ə/, and /∅/.[18]^: 40–42 Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter ү.[28][25]
• Indistinguishable from ö.[3]^: 20[16]^: 9–10
• ‍ᠦ᠋ = an alternative final form; also used in loanwords.[1]^: 39 Additionally used in native and modern Mongolian ᠰᠦ᠋^⟨?⟩ sü 'milk' (Classical Mongolian ᠰᠦ^⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩ sü or ᠰᠦᠨ sün).[26]^{: 741, 744}[1]^: 39
• The syllable-initial medial form ‍ᠦ᠋‍ is also used in non-initial syllables in proper name compounds,[1]^: 44 as well as in loanwords.
• ‍ᠦ᠌‍ = medial form used after the junction in a proper name compound.[1]^: 44
• Derived from Old Uyghur waw, followed by a yodh in word-initial syllables, and preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[2]^{: 539–540, 545–546}[29]^{: 111, 113}[1]^: 35
• Produced with U using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

• Stands in for e in loanwords,[1]^: 38[27] such as in ᠧᠦ᠋ᠷᠣᠫᠠ ēüropa (Европ Yevrop).[28]^: 48[33] Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter е.[28][25]
• Produced with ⇧ Shift+E using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

Doubled vowels[3]: 10, 30 [16]: 59 [note 9]
ii	oo	uu	üü	Transliteration
—	—	ᠤᠤ⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩[lower-alpha 19]		Alone
		ᠣᠣ[lower-alpha 20]	—
		ᠤᠤ‍		Initial
‍ᠢᠢ‍	‍ᠣᠣ‍			Medial
—	—	‍ᠤᠤ[lower-alpha 21]		Final

• The doubled vowels ii, uu, and üü mark these as long. Medial oo is instead both used in a few words to mark the vowel as short, and to distinguish it from u.[3]^: 30

• Most of the i's of these diphthongs derive from an earlier yi, but is no longer recognized as such. This origin can be seen in the doubled long teeth of earlier ᠰᠠᠶᠢᠨ^⟨?⟩ sayin 'good' having become ᠰᠠᠢᠨ^⟨?⟩ sain, but it also appears with the single form of i as in ᠳᠠᠯᠠᠢ dalai 'sea'.[16]^: 9

Diphthongs, continued[3]: 31–32
au	eü	u‑a	uu‑a	Transliteration
ᠠᠤ‍	—	—	—	Initial
‍ᠠᠤ‍				Medial
—		‍ᠤ᠎ᠠ⟨?⟩ ⟨ ⟩[lower-alpha 26]	‍ᠤᠤ᠎ᠠ⟨?⟩	Final

Two medial consonants are the most that can come together in original Mongolian words. There are however, a few loanwords that can begin or end with two or more. Examples of such include: (dotless š) gšan 'moment' (), gkir 'dirt' (), or bodisdv 'Bodhisattva' ().[3]^: 15, 32[16]^: 9[26]^: 385

Letter[3]: 17, 20–21 [2]: 546 [35]: 212–213
n	Transliteration
ᠨ‍	Initial
‍ᠨ᠋‍⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩	Medial (syllable-initial)
‍ᠨ‍⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩	Medial (syllable-final)
‍ᠨ	Final

C-V syllables[28]: 8
n‑a, n‑e	na, ne	ni	no, nu	nö, nü	Transliteration
—	ᠨᠠ	ᠨᠢ[lower-alpha 27]	ᠨᠣ᠋	ᠨᠥ᠋	Alone
	ᠨᠠ‍	ᠨᠢ‍	ᠨᠣ‍	ᠨᠥ‍	Initial
	‍ᠨᠠ‍	‍ᠨᠢ‍	‍ᠨᠣ‍		Medial
‍ᠨ᠎ᠠ⟨?⟩ ⟨ ⟩	‍ᠨᠠ	‍ᠨᠢ	‍ᠨᠣ		Final

• Transcribes Chakhar /n/;[13][27] Khalkha /n/, and /ŋ/.[18]^: 40–42 Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter н.[28][25]
• Distinction from other tooth-shaped letters by position in syllable sequence.
• Dotted before a vowel (attached or separated); undotted before a consonant (syllable-final) or a whitespace.[3]^: 20[2]^: 546[17]^: 6[13] Final dotted n is also found in modern Mongolian words.[1]^: 37
• Derived from Old Uyghur nun (𐽺).[2]^{: 539–540, 545–546}[29]^{: 111, 114}[1]^: 35
• Produced with N using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

• Transcribes Chakhar /ŋ/;[13][27] Khalkha /ŋ/.[18]^: 40–42 Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letters нг.[28][25]
• Derived from Old Uyghur nun-kaph (𐽺 and 𐽷) digraph.[2]^{: 539–540, 545–546}[29]^{: 111, 115}[1]^: 35
• Produced with ⇧ Shift+N using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

• Transcribes Chakhar /b/;[13][27] Khalkha /p/, /w/, and /∅/.[18]^: 40–42 Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter б.[28][25]
• For Classical Mongolian, Latin v is used only for transcribing foreign words, so most в (v) in Mongolian Cyrillic correspond to б (b) in Classical Mongolian.
• Derived from Old Uyghur pe (𐽼).[2]^{: 539–540, 545–546}[29]^{: 111, 115}[1]^: 35
• Produced with B using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

• Transcribes Chakhar /p/;[13][27] Khalkha /pʰ/.[18]^: 40–42 Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter п.[28][25]
• Only at the beginning of Mongolian words (although words with an initial p tend to be foreign).[20]^: 5[24]^: 27[13]
• Galik letter, derived from Mongolian b.[1]^: 35
• Produced with P using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

C-V syllables[3]: 15 [28]: 19
q‑a	qa	qe, qi	qo, qu	qö, qü	Transliteration
—	ᠬᠠ[lower-alpha 28]	—	ᠬᠣ᠋	—	Alone
—	ᠬᠠ‍	—	ᠬᠣ‍	—	Initial
—	‍ᠬᠠ‍	—	‍ᠬᠣ‍	—	Medial
‍ᠬ᠎ᠠ⟨?⟩ ⟨ ⟩	—		‍ᠬᠣ	—	Final

• Transcribes Chakhar /x/;[13][27] Khalkha /x/. Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter х.[28][25]
• Distinction from other tooth-shaped letters by position in syllable sequence.
• A separated isolate-shaped ‑q appears in the Uyghur loan title ayaγ‑q‑a tegimlig 'worthy of respect; reverend'.[2]^: 546[23]^: 43
• Derived from Old Uyghur merged gimel and heth (𐽲).[2]^{: 539–540, 545–546}[29]^{: 111, 113–115}[1]^: 35
• Produced with H using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

Letter[3]: 14, 17, 24–25 [2]: 546 [35]: 212–213
k	Transliteration
	Initial
	Medial (syllable-initial)
—	Medial (syllable-final)
—	Final

• Transcribes Chakhar /x/;[13][27] Khalkha /x/. Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter х.[28][25]
• Syllable-initially indistinguishable from g.[3]^: 15, 24[16]^: 9
• Derived from Old Uyghur kaph (𐽷).[2]^{: 539–540, 545–546}[29]^{: 111, 113, 115}[1]^: 35
• Produced with H using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

Letter[3]: 14, 17, 21–22 [2]: 546 [35]: 212–213
γ	Transliteration[lower-alpha 18]
ᠭ	Initial
‍ᠭ᠋‍⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩	Medial (syllable-initial)
‍ᠭ‍⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩	Medial (syllable-final)
‍ᠭ[lower-alpha 30]	Final

C-V syllables[3]: 15 [28]: 21
γ‑a	γa	γe, γi	γo, γu	γö, γü	Transliteration
—	ᠭᠠ	—	ᠭᠣ᠋	—	Alone
—	ᠭᠠ‍	—	ᠭᠣ‍	—	Initial
—	‍ᠭᠠ‍	—	‍ᠭᠣ‍	—	Medial
‍ᠭ᠎ᠠ⟨?⟩ ⟨ ⟩	—		‍ᠭᠣ	—	Final

• Transcribes Chakhar /ɣ/;[13] Khalkha /ɢ/, and /∅/.[18]^: 40–42 Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter г.[28][25]
• Dotted before a vowel (attached or separated); undotted before a consonant (syllable-final) or a whitespace.[3]^: 21[2]^: 546[17]^: 5[13]
• May turn silent between two adjacent vowels, and merge these into a long vowel or diphthong.[3]^: 36–37[1]^: 7 Qaγan (ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ) 'Khagan' for instance, is read as Qaan unless reading classical literary Mongolian. Some exceptions like tsa-g-aan 'white' exist.
• Derived from Old Uyghur merged gimel and heth.[2]^{: 539–540, 545–546}[29]^{: 111, 113–115}[1]^: 35
• Produced with G using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]

Letter[3]: 14–15, 17, 24–25 [2]: 546 [35]: 212–213
g	Transliteration
(⟨⟩)	Initial
‍ᠭ᠍‍⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩	Medial (syllable-initial)
	Medial (syllable-final)
‍ᠭ᠋⟨?⟩ ⟨⟩[lower-alpha 30]	Final

• Transcribes Chakhar /g/;[13][27] Khalkha /g/. Transliterated into Cyrillic with the letter г.[28][25]
• Syllable-initially indistinguishable from k.[3]^: 15, 24[16]^: 9 When it must be distinguished from k medially, it can be written twice (as in ᠥᠭᠭᠦᠭᠰᠡᠨ öggügsen 'given', compared with ᠦᠬᠦᠭᠰᠡᠨ ükügsen 'dead').[16]^: 59[33]
• The final form is also found written like the bow-shaped Manchu final ‍ᡴ᠋ k.[1]^: 39
  

  Emblem of the Inner Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party using bow-shaped final g in bičig
• May turn silent between two adjacent vowels, and merge these into a long vowel or diphthong.[3]^: 36–37[1]^: 7 Deger for instance, is read as deer. Some exceptions like ügüi 'no' exist.
• Derived from Old Uyghur kaph.[2]^{: 539–540, 545–546}[29]^{: 111, 113, 115}[1]^: 35
• Produced with G using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[30]